PANW

A bad day for International Business Machines has turned into great day for CrowdStrike Holdings and other cybersecurity companies. The reason why seems to be a short reference about cybersecurity in a letter to shareholders from IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. Krishna discussed how IBM clients in June shifted quarterly capital spending toward servers, storage, and memory purchases ahead of expected price increases.

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD). Shares have added about 7.9% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is CrowdStrike due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for CrowdStrike before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. CrowdStrike reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.10 for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.8%. The bottom line increased 50.7% on a year-over-year basis. The company’s first-quarter revenues of $1,385.63 million surpassed the consensus estimate by 1.7%. The top line increased 25.6% year over year. Subscription revenues jumped 25.7% year over year to $1,320.85 million. Professional services revenues increased 23% year over year to $64.78 million. As of April 30, 2026, annual recurring revenues (ARR) were $5.51 billion, up 24% year over year. The company added $255.8 million to its net new ARR in the reported quarter. As of April 30, 2026, CrowdStrike’s subscription customers, who adopted six or more cloud modules, represented 51% of total subscription customers. Customers that adopted seven or more cloud modules accounted for 35% of the total, while those with eight or more cloud modules represented 25%. CrowdStrike’s gross profit increased 27.1% to $1,089.8 million in the fiscal first quarter from $857.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The non-GAAP gross margin increased 100 basis points to 78.7%. The non-GAAP subscription gross profit rose 27.1% year over year to $1.07 billion, while the gross margin expanded 100 basis points (bps) year over year to 81%. The non-GAAP professional gross profit increased 29.5% to $21.2 million, while the gross margin expanded 160 bps to 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses jumped 12.1% year over year to $413.1 million. Non-GAAP research and development expenses climbed 25.3% year over year to $273.4 million. Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses increased 12% year over year to $77.7 million. Non-GAAP income from operations was $325.7 million, up from $201.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The non-GAAP operati...

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Palo Alto Networks (PANW). Shares have added about 25.5% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Palo Alto due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. Palo Alto Networks delivered third-quarter fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings of 85 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents by 4.9%. The figure improved 6.3% year over year. Palo Alto Networks’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 7.03%. PANW reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues of $3 billion, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.92 billion by 2%. Revenues increased 31% year over year from $2.29 billion in the year-ago quarter. Management attributed the quarter’s strength to accelerating organic bookings momentum as customers turned to the company to secure AI deployments at scale. Product revenues increased to $594 million from $453 million in the year-ago quarter, accounting for 19.8% of total revenues. Subscription and support revenues, which represented 80.2% of total revenues, rose to $2.41 billion from $1.84 billion, reflecting the company’s continued shift toward recurring revenues. Remaining performance obligation (RPO) rose to $18.4 billion, up 36% year over year, including contributions from CyberArk and Chronosphere. Next-Generation Security ARR climbed to $8.13 billion, up 60% year over year, supported by platform adoption and growth across the company’s next-generation portfolio. Non-GAAP gross profit grew to $2.27 billion compared to a non-GAAP gross margin at 75.8%. Non-GAAP operating income increased to $814 million, while the non-GAAP operating margin remained strong at 27.1%, reflecting continued profitability strength. As of April 30, 2026, Palo Alto Networks had $3.11 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments. Cash generation strengthened year over year. Net cash provided by operating activities was $871 million, up from $554 million in the prior quarter. Adjusted free cash flow was $910 million compared with...

BlackBerry (NYSE:BB), a security software and embedded systems provider, closed at $10.32, up 19.72%. Shares rose after first-quarter fiscal 2027 results showed an earnings beat and revenue above estimates. Investors are watching QNX’s momentum and updated fiscal 2027 revenue guidance. Trading volume reached 70.2M shares, coming in about 140% above its three-month average of 29.2M shares. BlackBerry IPO'd in 1999 and has grown 438% since going public. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) closed at 7,357, down 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) finished at 25,359, down 0.46%. Among cybersecurity and embedded software for enterprises and automakers, Palo Alto Networks closed at $293.09, up 2.74%, and CrowdStrike Holdings ended at $678.65, up 0.84%, showing firmer trading in sector rivals. It was a great day for BlackBerry shareholders as the company delivered Q1 sales and adjusted EBITDA growth of 26% and 144%, respectively, suggesting that its turnaround is in full effect. In addition to this impressive Q1 growth, management guided that 2027 sales will rise by roughly 11% at the midpoint and that it will generate at least $100 million in cash from operations -- up from $50 million last year. The best part of BlackBerry’s strong results, in my opinion, is that they were company-wide. Its burgeoning, automotive-focused (for now) QNX unit grew sales by 26% and remains the “crown jewel” of BB’s growth plans, with a backlog of nearly $1 billion. However, the company’s more mature security communications and licensing divisions also grew revenue by 24% and 49%, respectively. BlackBerry has quietly reinvented itself, but investors may want to consider buying shares in small batches over time as the stock has already doubled over the last year. Before you buy stock in BlackBerry, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and BlackBerry wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $387,428!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,221,398!* That performance is...

Morningstar lifted PANW's fair value to $285, citing AI-driven firewall demand, but maintained a '3-star' rating. The firm also raised CRWD's fair value to $530 on confidence in its AI strategy, but kept a '2-star' rating, AVGO beat earnings and revenue estimates and guided above expectations, yet shares fell more than 12% as investors sought even stronger AI guidance. Palo Alto Networks (PANW), CrowdStrike (CRWD), and Broadcom (AVGO) all delivered strong quarterly results recently, but Morningstar believes Wall Street may have gotten one earnings reaction wrong. The research firm says Broadcom's post-earnings decline has created the most attractive opportunity of the group. In premarket trading, AVGO rose 1%, CRWD gained 0.2%, while PANW slipped 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares ETF (SOXS), which seeks to deliver 3x the inverse daily performance of the semiconductor Index, fell 6%. See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox Palo Alto Networks reported third-quarter (Q3) adjusted earnings of $0.85 per share, beating estimates of $0.80, while revenue of $3 billion topped expectations of $2.94 billion. The company also raised its full-year earnings and revenue guidance. Remaining performance obligations rose 36% from the previous year to $18.4 billion, while security annual recurring revenue jumped 60% to $8.1 billion. CEO Nikesh Arora called the quarter a "standout quarter," citing accelerating growth in bookings as customers secure AI deployments. In a fresh note from late Monday, Morningstar raised its fair value estimate for PANW to $285, driven by stronger growth expectations for Palo Alto's firewall business. Analyst Dave Sekera said demand for firewall security products should benefit from ongoing AI data center buildouts. Despite the strong outlook, Morningstar rates the stock '3-star,' noting that shares trade only slightly below fair value after gaining 50% this year. CrowdStrike also topped expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $1.10 per share versus estimates of $1.07, while revenue of $1.39 billion beat forecasts of $1.36 billion. The company raised both its fiscal 2027 revenue and earnings outlook. Morningstar raised its fair value estimate to $530, citing growing confidence in CrowdStrike's AI-driven growth strategy. Seker...

Palo Alto Networks’ first quarter results were shaped by accelerating enterprise demand for AI-enabled cybersecurity, robust customer adoption of its platform products, and meaningful contributions from recent acquisitions. Management linked the strong revenue growth to increased urgency among organizations to secure AI workloads and heightened interest in integrated security solutions. CEO Nikesh Arora emphasized that “AI fundamentally redefines the enterprise tech stack, elevating cybersecurity to a mission-critical priority for every organization.” Despite these drivers, the market reacted negatively to the quarter, which management attributed to margin compression and integration-related expenses. Is now the time to buy PANW? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $3.00 billion vs analyst estimates of $2.94 billion (31.1% year-on-year growth, 2% beat) Adjusted EPS: $0.85 vs analyst estimates of $0.80 (6.6% beat) Adjusted Operating Income: $814 million vs analyst estimates of $764.7 million (27.1% margin, 6.5% beat) Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2026 is $3.35 billion at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $3.28 billion Management raised its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to $3.78 at the midpoint, a 2.9% increase Operating Margin: -6.1%, down from 9.6% in the same quarter last year Billings: $4.18 billion at quarter end, up 60.7% year on year Market Capitalization: $217.1 billion While we enjoy listening to the management’s commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls is the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Saket Kalia (Barclays): asked how much AI data center demand is contributing to network security growth. CEO Nikesh Arora said, "the multiyear tailwind will come from the fact that more and more data needs to be stored and used for AI training," citing a 50% industrywide increase in demand. Brian Essex (JPMorgan): inquired about customer evaluation of Prisma AIRS and detection speed. Lee Klarich, Chief Product and Technology Officer, explained that customers are seeing mean time to remediation drop to minutes, a critical proof point for platform adoption amid elevated threat environments. Matthew Hedberg (RBC): questioned the convergence of observability and security. Kl...

Palo Alto Networks PANW shares have lost 8.5% since the company reported its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results on June 2. The decline in share price can be attributed to the rising integration and acquisition-related costs. As a result of back-to-back acquisitions, PANW is incurring high integration-related costs, including onboarding employees, aligning go-to-market teams and integrating systems and operations. Acquisition-related costs in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 amounted to $113 million, a whopping increase from $5 million incurred in the prior quarter. These costs are expected to hurt the company's profitability before the benefits of synergies from acquisitions are fully realized. Further, PANW’s non-GAAP operating expenses rose to $1.46 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, up from $1.19 billion incurred in the prior quarter. As a percentage of revenues, operating expenses expanded 290 basis points, sequentially. As a result, non-GAAP operating income margin contracted 320 basis points on a sequential basis. PANW is incurring rising costs, which could lead to slower operating leverage and warrants some caution about the company’s near-term prospects. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) is currently trading at a high price-to-sales (P/S) multiple, above the Zacks Security industry. Palo Alto Networks’ forward 12-month P/S ratio sits at 16.84X, higher than the Zacks Security industry’s forward 12-month P/S ratio of 15.39X. The Zacks Value Score of F also suggests that PANW stock is overvalued. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The stock trades at a premium valuation to other industry peers, including Qualys QLYS, Zscaler ZS and Check Point Software CHKP. At present, Qualys, Zscaler and Check Point Software have P/S multiples of 5.18X, 5.54X and 4.95X, respectively. However, for investors, not everything is gloom and doom. Palo Alto Networks is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for advanced cybersecurity solutions. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global cybersecurity market is projected to expand from $248.28 billion in 2026 to $699.39 billion by 2034, representing a massive addressable market. As cyber threats become more sophisticated, enterprises are increasingly prioritizing multi-layered security platforms, which directly contribute to PANW’s strengths. Palo Alto Networks’ wide range of innovative produc...

CrowdStrike's ARR beat came in at $6 million, well below the prior range of $15 million to $29 million, disappointing bulls and dragging PANW lower in sympathy. Broadcom and CrowdStrike both beat estimates yet dropped sharply, revealing that parabolic pre-earnings rallies are pricing in perfection across tech. George Kurtz raised FY2027 net new ARR guidance and declared an AI inflection point, while TD Cowen labeled the post-earnings selloff transitory. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and CrowdStrike didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Shares of CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) are down 8% in early Thursday trading, changing hands near $679 after Wednesday's close of $747.61. The move marks the cybersecurity leader's worst single-day drop in about 22 months, despite a fiscal Q1 2027 earnings beat and a raised outlook. Cybersecurity peer Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) is dipping modestly in sympathy, with no company-specific news driving the move. The read-through across the cybersecurity complex is weighing on sentiment after parabolic runs for both names. CrowdStrike stock had rallied 97% since April 10 heading into the print, so the bar was sky-high. The beat was real, but it wasn't the blowout investors had grown accustomed to from the company. CrowdStrike reported non-GAAP EPS of $1.10 on revenue of $1.39 billion, topping consensus estimates of $1.07 EPS on $1.36 billion. The company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth accelerated to 24% year over year, a third consecutive quarter of faster growth. The catch: CrowdStrike's $6 million ARR beat versus consensus fell well short of the $15 million to $29 million upside delivered in each of the prior four quarters. Net new ARR rose to $256 million, but came in below the bullish upside scenario, partly because deals tied to April's "Mythos" launch are expected to take longer to close. The company's Q2 FY2027 guidance landed roughly in line. CrowdStrike sees EPS of $1.16 to $1.17 on revenue of $1.43 billion to $1.44 billion, against the Wall Street consensus of $1.16 EPS on $1.43 billion. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and CrowdStrike didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. This is an expectations issue rather than a fundamentals problem. After a near-doubling in two months, traders were positio...

Analysts expect CrowdStrike Holdings stock will rebound as earnings showed that artificial intelligence is becoming a tailwind for the cybersecurity company’s growth. CrowdStrike reported adjusted earnings of $1.10 a share on revenue of $1.39 billion after the stock market closed on Wednesday. CrowdStrike also said it expects fiscal 2027 revenue to be between $5.91 billion and $5.96 billion, which is higher than Wall Street estimates of $5.9 billion.

Palo Alto Networks PANW delivered third-quarter fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings of 85 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents by 4.9%. The figure improved 6.3% year over year. Palo Alto Networks’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 7.03%.PANW reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues of $3 billion, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.92 billion by 2%. Revenues increased 31% year over year from $2.29 billion in the year-ago quarter. Management attributed the quarter’s strength to accelerating organic bookings momentum as customers turned to the company to secure AI deployments at scale. Product revenues increased to $594 million from $453 million in the year-ago quarter, accounting for 19.8% of total revenues. Subscription and support revenues, which represented 80.2% of total revenues, rose to $2.41 billion from $1.84 billion, reflecting the company’s continued shift toward recurring revenues. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Palo Alto Networks, Inc. Quote Remaining performance obligation (RPO) rose to $18.4 billion, up 36% year over year, including contributions from CyberArk and Chronosphere. Next-Generation Security ARR climbed to $8.13 billion, up 60% year over year, supported by platform adoption and growth across the company’s next-generation portfolio. Non-GAAP gross profit grew to $2.27 billion compared to a non-GAAP gross margin at 75.8%. Non-GAAP operating income increased to $814 million, while the non-GAAP operating margin remained strong at 27.1%, reflecting continued profitability strength. As of April 30, 2026, Palo Alto Networks had $3.11 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.Cash generation strengthened year over year. Net cash provided by operating activities was $871 million, up from $554 million in the prior quarter. Adjusted free cash flow was $910 million compared with $502 million in the prior quarter, while the trailing 12-month adjusted free cash flow margin was 38.5%, up 430 basis points year over year. For fiscal 2026, Palo Alto Networks now expects revenues in the range of $11.41 billion to $11.42 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 24%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 revenues is pegged at $11.3 billion.RPO is projected to be in the range of...

The cybersecurity giant is riding the AI wave for all its worth, but the real question is whether this is a new growth era or just a temporary hardware high. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) just dropped the kind of quarter that should have investors cheering. Revenue hit $3 billion, earnings per share of $0.85 beat estimates, and the company raised its full-year guidance. Yet, the stock slipped in pre-market trading. What gives? The hesitation stems from the nature of the boom itself. Palo Alto proved the AI-driven security boom is very real, but investors are now weighing whether this spectacular, hardware-fueled growth can transition into a sustainable software-led future. Image by Cliff Hang from Pixabay Let’s be clear, the good news was spectacular. The company reported its “strongest hardware performance in a decade,” with bookings for its next-generation firewalls jumping nearly 40% year-over-year. This surge goes beyond a typical refresh cycle. Management pointed directly to demand from AI data center build-outs, a completely new and hungry class of buyers. As the CEO noted, the explosion of data centers for training AI models is creating a “multiyear tailwind” for the kind of high-speed traffic inspection that is Palo Alto’s bread and butter. But selling more physical appliances was only part of the story. The company’s newer, software-based offerings are also firing. Next-Generation Security ARR, a key metric for recurring revenue, grew an eye-watering 60% year over year to $8.1 billion. Prisma AIRS, a product for securing AI applications that didn't exist a year ago, is now the company’s “fastest-growing product ever,” tripling its customer count to over 300 in the quarter. This is the evidence that the company’s big bet on becoming a unified security platform - and moving beyond its origins as a firewall vendor - is gaining traction. So, with all that momentum, why the long face from the market? Because growth this fast, especially when fueled by major acquisitions like CyberArk and Chronosphere, comes with a hefty price tag and significant execution risk. While adjusted profits looked good, the company posted a GAAP operating loss of $183 million. Integrating massive new businesses is hard work, and management admitted they still have to “toil through migrating our Prisma Cloud customers to Cortex Cloud.” This is the messy part of a big strategic pivot...

Investing.com -- Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks reported upbeat fiscal third-quarter 2026 results, driven by surging demand for AI-focused security solutions and contributions from recent acquisitions. Shares in the company rallied 11.4% in extended hours of trading. Palo Alto Networks has been expanding beyond traditional network security into AI, cloud, identity security, and observability, while integrating recent acquisitions to strengthen its platform-based cybersecurity offering. The company recorded revenue of $3.0 billion in the third quarter, up 31% year-over-year, and beating Wall Street estimates of $2,94 billlion. Its key growth metric, Next-Generation Security Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), climbed 60% to $8.1 billion, reflecting strong adoption of its cloud, AI, identity, and security operations platforms. Chief Executive Officer Nikesh Arora said the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has heightened cybersecurity concerns, prompting enterprises to seek large-scale security solutions. The company reported accelerating organic bookings growth as customers increasingly secure AI deployments through its platforms. Palo Alto Networks reported adjusted net income of $684 million, or $0.85 per diluted share, from $561 million or $0.80 per diluted share a year ago. Palo Alto Networks forecast continued momentum in the fourth quarter. The company expects revenue between $3.345 billion and $3.355 billion, representing approximately 32% annual growth, and projects Next-Generation Security ARR to reach as much as $8.95 billion. For the full fiscal year 2026, management expects revenue of $11.42 billion to $11.43 billion versus the consensus of $11.29 billion. Related articles Palo Alto Networks rallies 11% on earnings beat, robust AI security growth Goldman expects lower but still attractive stock market returns in 2026 This sector is 'poised for a big, beautiful year': Truist